The chain with the funny name is "looking to fill out the D.C. and Baltimore corridor, both in Northern Virginia and Maryland," according to Peter Gilligan, a Wawa vice president and chief real estate officer.

Crossing the District of Columbia line could be in the cards, too, WBJ notes. But Wawa stores typically need 5,000 square-feet, which limits possible site selections in urbanized D.C.

The Wawa stirrings, naturally, have energized local fans, especially those who hail from southeastern Pennsylvania and southern New Jersey, where the chain rules supreme.

As The Washington Post detailed in a lengthy feature in 2009, fans of Wawa and Sheetz have a type of devotion that rises above the normal threshold for customer loyalty:

In some towns, the farther out you get, it feels like the Sheetz is the only thing left. Both chains see the same people every day. Wawa customers and Sheetz customers are known to make three, four, even, legendarily, 12 visits a day. Living in a limitless Wawa-or-Sheetz world is a miraculous thing. It might even be too much convenience. (Too much convenience?)